10.11 Employers, organisations of employers, TECs, LECs, Chambers of Commerce and National Training Organisations, will all need to play both main and supporting roles. It will be for employers themselves to determine, in consultation with employees and their representatives, their particular needs and learning requirements and the best ways in which these can be met. They will need to adopt a positive approach to investment in learning. They should have regard for the importance not only of the development of particular skills and aptitudes, but also for those core and transferable skills that are most likely to promote the adaptability and flexibility of their workforces and the future employment prospects of their staff.
10.12 Particular attention should be given to finding effective ways of promoting and supporting workplace learning for those employed in small and very small businesses and those who are self-employed. Colleges and other providers can assist in this, as can TECs, Chambers of Commerce and larger employers. One way of extending learning opportunities to those in smaller firms is through links in the supply chains from smaller to larger companies and through arrangements made for franchisees in larger chains. Where there are concentrations of small businesses, for example in trading estates and large shopping centres, there is scope for establishing shared learning centres and other facilities.
10.13 All of this will require that effort, publicity and outreach activity should be targeted at drawing in small firms and the people who work in them. Local consortia of employers, together with other local learning partners, should join together in order to make learning opportunities more readily available than they would be if fragmented and provided amongst many small workplaces. Larger employers, or consortia, should also consider extending the availability of workplace learning centres to the families of staff and to people in the local community. These could also exploit the new opportunities afforded by the creation of the University for Industry.
10.14 Thorough learning needs analysis will be crucial to the success of workplace learning. Local Colleges and universities, and other providers, could establish dedicated teams of professionals whose job it would be to go into companies to help establish both the case for workplace learning and the range of potential learners' needs.
10.15 Provision should also be made, possibly through a web site, for both employer and individual access to a learning analysis process. This could include up-to-date intelligence on employment availability, immediately and in the future, self-assessment of learning needs and a directory of training opportunities to meet those needs. Partnership with universities and colleges, as well as with other agencies such as TECs and Government Regional Offices will enhance the development of such processes.
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